The (Nuclear) Winter Of Our Discontent

http://news.opb.org/article/the_nuclear_winter_of_our_discontent/

The (Nuclear) Winter Of Our Discontent

Climate Central | March 6, 2012 4:33 a.m.

The specter of a nuclear conflagration looms in the tinderbox that is the Middle East and South Asia. While heads of state and military leaders game out every possible result, including the nightmarish worst-case scenarios, it's worth also contemplating the collateral ramifications of a nuclear conflict, including its potentially dramatic effects on the climate.

Those ramifications, after all, would affect all of us, perhaps irrevocably.

If a nuclear war were to break out in the Middle East or South Asia (or anywhere else, for that matter), the least of our short-term worries would be climate change. But, depending on the size and number of weapons used, as well as the specific targets hit, a nuclear conflict could seriously impact the global climate system, ushering in a period of dramatic global cooling.

Even limited regional nuclear exchanges — which are more likely now that the number of nuclear weapons states has increased — would have major implications for the climate system that would be similar to, although not as severe as, the “nuclear winter” scenarios popularized during the Cold War, according to the most recent studies.

In fact, modern climate simulations show that the climate system may be even more sensitive to a nuclear conflict than previously thought.

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